nine: the happiness project

Like last year I am attempting to read 30 books before 2013 finishes like I attempted in 2012. Last year I got as far as 27 books in comparison Claire at Pipe Dreams and Professions read over 200 (how she managed that I have no idea!)

I’m currently on Book Four – technically it’s kinda book two as two of the books were flash fiction so I finished them in one night. Anyway I’m currently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. (You can read her website here)

I think part of The Happiness Project is to write your own targets and do what suits your life style. Well I got started with some prompts from the book – I’ve been stepping around piles of clothes for weeks. When I was ill before Christmas they were stacked up to make sure that the exit of the bedroom was clear but then it all merged again.

I got drastic. I mean I got REALLY drastic.

After work, I popped to the supermarket to grab some bin bags (we didn’t have any at home – they must have been eaten or something lol), I also grabbed some resealable sandwich bags for job number 2.

When I got home it didn’t quite go to plan to start with but I got it sorted. Job Number One – Clear out my wardrobe.

I spent most of the evening sorting out the clothes that I haven’t worn in ages or that are too small.

I had some how ended up with six pairs of jeans, some aren’t wearable as they have worn out in places so I couldn’t put them in a charity bag but at the same time I didn’t want to throw them out as it would be a waste of the useable fabric. I posted on Facebook to see if anyone could suggest a use for them – most of the suggestions involved making the jeans into something else which I would normally do but I think three of the pairs of jeans have been in my cupboard for that purpose and I’ve never got round to doing anything with them. So rather than keep them I needed something else to do with them.

In my case, it turns out a friend of a friend makes amazing goodies from old pieces of fabric. Caroline is a friend of a friend and she creates goodies that she sells to raise money for schools in Utange which is near Mombasa in Kenya. You can find out further information here on Caroline’s Blog.

Job Number 2 was back down in the kitchen – technically I did it first before going upstairs and starting on the wardrobe but I was more excited about the wardrobe that I had to tell you. We have a drawer in our kitchen that we call “The Man Drawer” it’s where the odd birthday candles, the old electricity meter card and the allen key set are. But it all gets in a muddle so I used the resealable sandwich bags to group everything together – I imagine that the system will probably not work in the long run but it’s a way to start.

Erm I’m not entirely sure – clearly I need to make my way down your list on Goodreads and add a bunch – then again I need to finish The Happiness Project first and all the extra activities it seems to be inspiring me to do!

Sounds like a great set of ideas. I need to go through all of my clothes and sell them/send them to charity, but I can’t unpack yet as I have nowhere to put anything.
Also, those resealable bags, with the green, I used to swear they were sewn together when I was younger!

It’s all from this book – I bought it with some of my Christmas money and so far it’s worth it’s weight lol.

I did the wardrobe and man drawer on Tuesday. Today I desperately tried to keep calm and not snap at the boys (maybe it comes with practice and there will be bad days!). Then when it came to cleaning the kitchen I had a family meeting of sorts. I explained that it was lovely of them to sort it so that I pretty much have like 90% of the day to myself but I’m still going to end up doing chores if the kitchen isn’t clean and tidy. I’m not sure if they both got what I was getting at but we’ll see what happens.

The man drawer in our house adopts all the spare bits from flat pack furniture – given there are quite a few Ikea units in our house it adds up that there are lots of spares. You’re pretty sure you don’t need then but you have that feeling if you throw them out then when you move house and reassemble it you’ll need though spares (and as its 30 miles to the nearest Ikea store it’s a bit far for a few screws!)

There are phone chargers and birthday cake candles too. It soon adds up that there are lots of oddments. I’m sure there’s some sociological aspect to it all.

I think it was things that I keep putting off stress me out without realising it. I have a mental list of to do things but always claim “I don’t have time” but actually some of the time it’s about stepping away from the TV and doing stuff but also planning my day a bit better – if I go to sleep earlier, I can be awake a bit earlier and plan my day a bit better. The going to sleep earlier bit is a bit of a challenge given that I’m a night owl but even just getting into bed earlier on purpose and reading rather than watching TV until bedtime makes a chunk of difference.

I sorted out my chest of drawers and I’d always thought that I didn’t have space for clothes but also that I didn’t have enough of the “right” clothes – like work outfits. Well it turned out I had far too many t-shirts! By going through my clothes and being ruthless it made a massive difference.

P.s. Thank you for the comment

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Hey There!

Hi! I’m Hannah. I'm a twenty something blogger from Bedford. I'm married to Chris, foster Mum to Our Sidekick and Mummy to Jaxon. When I'm not blogging, I love knitting and crocheting. I talk lots about life and the adventures that we have as a family.